ACADEMIC RESOURCES FOR WRITING
PREWRITING STRATEGIES
http://www.msu.edu/course/atl/125/fernandez/studgi/heurlist.html
A list of twelve different heuristics. Great strategies for developing and organizing ideas before writing.
http://www.studygs.net/writing/prewriting.htm
Information on and suggestions for pre-writing strategies. Includes free writing, mind mapping, brainstorming, and outlining. Look on the left side of the screen for directions and the center for helpful organizing graphics.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_plan1.html
Lots of ideas on how to start a paper. Discusses different approaches to your topic and suggests different invention strategies (heuristics) for coming up with ideas.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_block.html
Great strategies for overcoming writer’s block. Lists specific reasons for getting “stuck” and give useful tips for each situation.
DIFFERENT WRITING GENRES
Critical Thinking Papers
http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/400Index.htm
Extensive information on critical thinking skills. Includes tips on how to critically
evaluate logic, recognizing various viewpoints, and how to use critical thinking skills
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/philosophy.html
Background information on the field of philosophy and description of elements of philosophy papers. Great tips on argument construction and taking a position.
Persuasive / Argumentative Papers
http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr4.htm
Description of persuasive/argumentative writing and informative list of elements of a good persuasive essay. Provides very useful strategies and steps to work on this type of assignment.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/argument.html
Great background on arguments in academic essays. Gives definitions and explanations of why arguments are important.
Summary Writing
http://users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/Summary.html
Extensive background information on summarizing, both in academics and in real life. Explains the key features of a summary and gives tips for summarizing (go to “writing the summary essay”).
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01
Clear distinctions between summarizing and paraphrasing and clear reasons for when you want to use one or the other.
Writing about Literature
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_lit.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_fiction.html
These two pages contain a lot of information about how to write about literature. They address topics, research, reading the text, and bits of the writing process.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature.html
Detailed background information on writing about literature. Gives an explanation of the writing process, steps to writing a paper about literature, and general tips.
SENTENCE & PARAGRAPH LEVEL-ISSUES
Paragraph Structure and Development
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/paragraphs.html
Useful information on paragraph development. Gives background information on paragraph structure and steps for writing a strong paragraph.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_pgrph2.html
Detailed information on paragraph development and structure. Covers the topics of “unity”, “coherence”, “topic sentences”, and “development”. Very well-organized.
Paragraph Focus
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/glossing.html
Describes the strategy of “glossing” to improve paragraph focus and organize your paper.
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/paragraphs.htm
Explains why a paragraph should have one singular topic and gives suggestions on how to focus your body paragraphs. Gives ideas on topic sentences and developing ideas.
Sentence Level Issues
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_sentvar.html
Great suggestions for dealing with sentence-level trouble spots in academic essays. Gives suggestions on how to avoid choppy sentences, how to use the same subject in multiple, consecutive sentences, and how to write a series of sentences with the same pattern or rhythm.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_sentclar.html
Strategies for improving sentence clarity. Great tips on how to write strong, clear sentences in your essays.
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/parstruc.html
Describes parallelism (writing sentences in similar patterns) and explains how and why to use parallel structures in your essays.
Thesis Statements
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/thesis.html
Great tips on writing a thesis statement with helpful steps to follow for developing your own thesis.
